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This video of a PowerPoint Lecture appears on Cotton Town by kind permission of Dr Cynthia Johnston.
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By David Hughes
Amongst a collection of documents dealing with property in the Blackburn and Darwen area from the late 16th to the late 19th centuries are correspondence, accounts and receipts from the period 1822 to 1866 relating to the affairs of the Maude and Greenway families. The Greenways were a prominent family in Darwen in the late 18th century and 19th century. Within this collection is a letter written by Jane Maude to her brother James Greenway. Jane and James were children of James Greenway senior who had made his fortune through calico printing in Darwen and Manchester in the late eighteenth century. Jane wrote this letter between 1858 and her death in 1860 when Jane was in her late 70s and her elder brother in his early 80s. In this letter, Jane considered events from almost 40 years before. She claimed that James's 'sudden change of mind from Night to Morng was remarkable upon a subject of Importance to us & this conclusion almost cost Maude his senses’ (2). What Jane referred to was the bankruptcy of her husband, William Maude, along with his business partner and brother-in-law, John Potter, in June 1831 in their calico printing business in Blackburn, Darwen and Manchester (3). Maude’s bankruptcy had serious consequences for his family. The most serious of which was that in the late 1830s the family spilt with William remaining in Manchester while Jane and her daughters and youngest son moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands. Jane, her surviving sister Sarah, who was married to John Potter, and the children of her youngest sister Charlotte, who had died earlier, benefitted from a trust fund established by James, their father in 1817. This guaranteed an income separate from their husbands for Jane and Sarah. Jane and Sarah also benefitted from legacies put into another trust fund under James’ will after his death in 1822. James along with his younger brother, Charles, managed both trusts after the death of their uncle, Charles Sydebotham in 1826 who was the other original trustee. This gave Jane an income separate from her husband which became important after the bankruptcy of her husband. However, Jane was still beholden to her brothers for payment of the annual interest. A complaint filed in the Chancery Court by Maude and Potter’s trustees, who had been appointed after their bankruptcy, sheds light on the complexity of William Maude’s business dealing with not only John Potter but also with his other brother-in-law, Charles Greenway. Overall, the collection of letters, receipts and accounts along with the Chancery case and other publicly available resources give an insight into the human side to business failure in the first half of the 19th century. Although William Maude’s bankruptcy had serious consequences for his family thanks to inheritance and marriage the fortunes of two of their children revived. Researching the Maude children who survived into old age raised questions. Three sisters who lived together for over 30 years appear to have died wealthy women, but no source of this wealth has been identified. Also, their brother, William Edward, who had inherited property in the Lake District and had business interests in Cheshire moved to Dublin with his wife where he died. The reason is unknown. The fortunes of the Maude family is an intriguing story pieced together from various publicly available sources but, unfortunately, much remains hidden.
Jane Maude was the third child and second daughter of James Greenway. Greenway became rich from calico printing in Darwen and Manchester during the late 18th century. Greenway established his business in Darwen around 1778 (4). Before moving to Darwen he was in Cheshire. His first child, James, was baptised at St Chad, Romiley, Cheshire on 16 March 1777 (5). He had married Sarah, sister of Charles Sydebotham, a Liverpool merchant, but no record of this marriage has been traced (6). He retired from business in 1800 during the final illness of his wife. He left his partnership with John Potter in a calico printing business (7). Potter was Greenway’s son-in-law having married Greenway’s eldest daughter Sarah in 1795 (8). Greenway handed over his business interest to James, his son (9). James Greenway lived on until 1822(10). In 1817, he placed £13,300 in a trust managed by his eldest son, James, and his brother-in-law, Charles Sydebotham, which was for the benefit of his two surviving daughters, Sarah and Jane, and the children of his deceased daughter, Charlotte. Charlotte’s children and Sarah were to receive the interest on £5,000 of this trust whereas Jane would benefit only from £3,300. No explanation has been found for this difference. The indenture specified that the interest should not benefit the husbands of Greenway’s daughters (11). In addition, James Greenway provided additional trust funds of £1,000 each for his two surviving daughters in a codicil to his will in 1822. His two sons, James and Charles, were appointed trustees. The trusts were placed outside of control of Jane and Sarah’s husbands (12). Both of these trusts would prove to be important for Jane in her later life.
Jane Greenway married William Maude at the Collegiate Church in Manchester on 9 February 1802 (13). William was the third son of Joseph Maude of Kendal. Joseph Maude was originally from Sunderland where he had been involved in the coal trade. After marrying Sarah Holme of Kendal, he sold his business interests and moved to Kendal in 1773. In Kendal he became partner in a bank, Maude Wilson and Crewdson Bank, and bought property in Kendal and Westmoreland (14). As Rory Muir has observed, the eldest son would inherit the father’s estate whereas younger sons would be left a little capital but would have to make their own way in the world after being helped on the first step of a career (15). William, and most of his other brothers were prepared for a life in business. William as well as his elder brother Frederick and his younger brothers Warren and Edwin were sent to the Manchester Academy. The Manchester Academy was established in 1786 to provide a university level education for Protestant dissenters (16). Before becoming business partners William and his elder brother, Frederick, studied commerce, Frederick between October 1787 and December 1788 and William between September 1788 to June 1789 (17). After leaving Manchester Academy, William continued his preparation for a life in business when he was apprenticed to Messrs. Wilson and Horsfall in Salford as a merchant (18). By 1795 William was in a business partnership with Frederick as silk and cotton manufacturers in Manchester (19). Being in the textile trade in Manchester was probably the connection between William and the Greenway family as James Greenway was involved in the trade during the same period.
William Maude appears not to have continued in the cotton trade after his marriage to Jane, instead he became part of the gentry of Blackburn. After his marriage to Jane, William was elected as a governor of the Free Grammar School in Blackburn in July 1802 (20). By 1803 he had become treasurer to the Free Grammar School. When the school needed a new headmaster after the death of the incumbent, Rev. Thomas Jackson, applications had to be made through William (21). Further evidence of William’s position within Blackburn’s gentry was when a new coroner was required for Blackburn Hundred in 1810. He was among the signatories of letters published during the election for that position. His fellow signatories included Henry Feilden and Henry Sudell, major landowners around Blackburn, and major cotton manufacturer John Hornby (22). By 1811, William had returned to the cotton trade (23). By this time, William and Jane had four children. When Joseph Maude, William’s father, died in 1803 he bequeathed William £2,000 (24). As Rory Muir observed, £2,000, if invested prudently, would provide an income of £100 a year which was poverty for a single person, let alone a married man with a family, if they had pretensions of being genteel (25). It is possible that William had capital from when he was in the cotton and silk trade with his brother Frederick. Evidence for both William and Frederick having capital from their business can be found in the life Frederick had after their partnership ended. Frederick appears to have not continued in business and lived the life of gentleman in Manchester until his death in 1840 even though he was bequeathed £2,000, the same capital sum as William (26). Frederick could live the life of a gentleman on a more limited income than William because he remained unmarried.
With a growing family, William returned to the cotton trade entering partnerships in various businesses with his brothers-in-law Charles Greenway and John Potter. He had a cotton spinning business in Manchester with Charles Greenway, trading as Charles Greenway & Co., and another manufacturing cotton goods in Blackburn as Maude and Greenway. In addition, in partnership with John Potter and Charles Greenway, he had a business printing calico in Manchester as Greenway, Potter & Co. and in Blackburn as Maude & Company. Separate from these partnerships, Charles Greenway carried on a business as a shipper of goods which included exporting cotton goods to Argentina (27). In 1826, one of the partnerships between William Maude and Charles Greenway, Charles Greenway & Co, cotton spinners in Manchester, stopped payments. As a result, Charles Greenway retired from business. The partnership between Maude and Greenway, trading as Charles Greenway & Co was dissolved and the stock, effects and debts used to settle the partnerships debts. Also, the other partnerships involving Charles Greenway and William Maude along with John Potter which printed calico, Greenway, Potter & Co, in Manchester and Darwen, and Maude & Co. in Blackburn, were dissolved. Potter and Maude reached an agreement with Greenway that they should take over the assets and stock of these partnerships as well as settling the debts incurred by Greenway and Maude in their business ventures.
The Complaint brought by Thomas Potter and Edmund Burdekin to the Chancery Court in 1834, followed by the answers given by Charles Greenway and James Greenway reveal the complexity of the business relationships between William Maude, John Potter and Charles Greenway. Potter and Burdekin had been appointed trustees after the bankruptcy of Maude and Potter. Unravelling the complexity of their business affairs is beyond the scope of this article (28). Instead, the focus will be on the impact on William Maude and his family of the failure of his partnership with Charles Greenway and the bankruptcy in 1831 of the successor partnership with John Potter. Comprehensive accounts for Maude, Potter and Charles Greenway, before his retirement, have not survived. However, the summary of the accounts of Greenway and Company when payments were stopped in 1826, gives an idea of the size of Maude, Potter and Greenway’s business interests. Greenway and Company had debts with trade creditors of £28,500. Also, they had s bond of £5,000 with Richard Potter giving them debts of £33,500. They had assets of £24,900 giving them a deficit of £5,600. Using the real price data of www.measuringworth.com to convert to values for 2025, Greenway and Company’s total debts were approximately £3,795,000 with assets of £2,8000,000 giving them a debt of almost £1,000,000. As this was only one of their businesses, it indicates that they were significant traders.
After Charles Greenway & Co failed, Charles Greenway retired from business whereas William Maude continued. Maude entered a partnership with John Potter to continue printing calico in Manchester and Blackburn as Potter, Maude and Company. In August 1826 they took John Swainson of Preston as a partner. Swainson owned a cotton mill in Preston and was brother of Charles Swainson who was a major cotton manufacturer in Preston (29). Swainson left the partnership in December 1828. After that they tried to form a partnership with Henry Forth of Manchester which fell through (30). The need for business partners indicates that Maude and Potter needed further investment to support their historic debts from their previous business ventures with Charles Greenway as well as providing finance for their new business. Having to seek outside investment is possibly an indicator that, without additional support, their business could be in financial difficulty. Having failed to find a new business partner, Maude and Potter’s business failed in June 1831, after which they were declared bankrupt (31).
Jane Maude in a letter to her brother James accused him of changing his mind about assisting William after he was declared bankrupt along with his business partner, John Potter. A letter from John Lister and evidence given in the Potter and Burdekin Complaint in the Court of Chancery along with replies given by James Greenway and Charles Greenway support Jane’s accusation. John Lister wrote a letter on 14 March 1831 to which he attached a copy of a letter from James Greenway (32). The letter from James Greenway to John Lister’s brother was written on 7 March 1831. Greenway accused John Lister of having ‘duped my relation Mr. Maude & afterwards extorted from him nearly Two thousand pounds [approximately £250,000 in 2025] in violation of his Word & honor thereby defrauding all concerned, especially myself & I believe Warren Maude’. Greenway proposed an arrangement by which William Maude and John Potter would pay money owed to Lister so long as he cancelled two payments for £500 and £600 from Maude and Potter. In the postscript to his letter, John Lister expressed astonishment that one payment from Maude and Potter due on 12th March for £600 had been dishonoured. He went on to threaten putting the matter in the hands of his solicitor. From this it seems that Lister was the person who petitioned for Maude and Potter’s bankruptcy. However, Potter and Burdekin’s Complaint to the Court of Chancery names James Greenway as the person responsible for petitioning for their bankruptcy. Potter and Burdekin believed that Greenway petitioned for their bankruptcy over an outstanding debt due from Potter, Greenway and Company which Potter and Maude had agreed to take on when they set up their new business after Charles Greenway had retired from Potter, Greenway and Company in 1826. In his reply, James Greenway admitted he had petitioned for Maude and Potter’s bankruptcy but not over an outstanding debt from Potter, Greenway and Company but over rent for a property due to him from Maude and Potter (33). James Greenway changing from defending Maude and Potter’s interests, albeit out of self-interest, to petitioning for their bankruptcy could be what Jane Greenway referred to when she accused James of changing his mind overnight over acting to protect her husband’s interests. William Maude being a bankrupt had drastic effects on the Maude family.
The first person to feel the impact of Maude and Potter’s bankruptcy was the Maudes’ second son, Thomas Holme Maude. In May 1832, he purchased the Whitebirk estate owned by the Peel family on which to build a mill. This agreement was extraordinary because when he agreed the contract he had only just passed the age of 20 and was legally classified as an infant. James Greenway supported the purchase, even though Thomas was underaged and, as part of the contract, John Hornby agreed to lend £1000 towards financing of the agreed purchase price of £6000, approximately £750,000 in 2025 (34). Although no evidence exists, it is probable that Thomas was acting as a proxy for his father to enable his father to continue in business. It was unlikely that established businessmen such as James Greenway and John Hornby, head of one Blackburn’s major cotton manufacturers, Hornby and Birley, would support a young man in such a major business investment even though James was his uncle and John Hornby had been a neighbour of the Maude family (35). A condition of Hornby’s loan was that it should be repaid in May 1834. No evidence of a business based at Whitebirk exists but in October 1834, a fiat of bankruptcy was issued against Thomas Holme Maude (36). This indicates that Thomas failed to repay the loan to Hornby. If this was an attempt by William Maude to resurrect his business career, it was a failure. After his involvement in the Whitebirk venture, Thomas Holme Maude went to the USA where he died in Baltimore in March 1839, aged 26 only. This affair did not end with Thomas’s bankruptcy. Settlement with the Peel family still had not been agreed in 1863 (37). This failed business venture affected one member of the family, what happened next affected the whole family.
By 1837, the family had split. William moved to Manchester and Jane with some of her children moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands. William was recorded as paying rates for an office in Manchester in 1837 (38). It is probable that Jane and children left Blackburn to live on Jersey before this. In her letter to her brother, James, Jane said that she had lived on Jersey for 24 years (39). As she placed adverts for the sale of her furniture in the Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph in April 1858 as she was leaving the island this indicates that she moved there around 1834 (40). Which children went with Jane to Jersey is uncertain. As all the daughters had connections with Jersey, it is almost certain that they all lived with Jane at some time (41). Of the sons, Eustace, the youngest, was the only one that went with his mother. Of the other sons, Frederick was a curate at Longridge, William Edward went to America after leaving school in Blackburn and Thomas Holme had his business venture in Blackburn (42).
The reason why Jane chose Jersey could have been through connections with the larger Maude family. Her husband’s second cousin Warren Maude Lamb, who himself was a bankrupt, moved there with his three daughters around 1833 (43). Both William Maude and Warren Maude Lamb had a common great-great-grandfather in Bryan Maude (1634-85) but the closer relationship was through their grandparents (44). Warren Maude Lamb’s grandmother and William Maude’s maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother were siblings [See Figure 1]. (45)
Figure 1 – Maude and Lamb Families
No evidence has been found of any connection between the Maude family and Warren Maude Lamb before Jane moved to Jersey. However, it is probable that the broader Maude family were aware that Warren Maude Lamb had been declared bankrupt in 1826 (46). His bankruptcy was the likely reason why he and his daughters moved to Jersey. When William and Jane were looking for somewhere for Jane and her children to live after William’s bankruptcy, they could have turned to William’s relation for help and advice. Ample evidence of a close connection between the Maude family and Warren Maude Lamb can be found after Jane and her daughters had settled in Jersey. The Maudes’ eldest daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, married John Aubin, the widower of Warren Maude’s daughter Isabella Louisa. Sarah Elizabeth’s relationship to Warren Maude was strengthened further by John Aubin’s son, also John, being married to another of Warren Maude’s daughters, Caroline.
In a letter to James Greenway, William Edward explained how his mother’s move to Jersey was financed (47). She sold a piano and the Birley family paid £60 for a painting by her daughter Jane and some other things that he did not specify. Unnamed members of the Maude family helped in the purchase of furniture. In addition, Jane Maude had an income from the trust fund created by her father and a legacy in his will. James and Charles were the trustees, and James was responsible for the annual payment of the interest. In Jane’s accusation that James had changed his mind over helping her husband when he was in financial difficulty, she claimed having her father’s legacies was one of the reasons why James changed his mind. It is not known what Jane’s annual income was but if her legacy of £3,300 was invested at 5 per cent annual interest she and her daughters would have had £180 to live on, something over £20,000 at today’s prices. Not a great income but probably enough for abstemious, genteel ladies. In addition, Jane’s daughters had money from a legacy from their great uncle Charles Sydebotham. This legacy was a share of the proceeds of the sale of property in Liverpool that Sydebotham instructed should be divided between the grandchildren of his sister Jane, the wife of the elder James Greenway (48). However, according to William Edward, a portion of this legacy ‘was appropriated by Mr Hayhurst when trusted to receive it’. The residue went towards assisting Jane and Sarah Elizabeth in their return from Italy after their father’s bankruptcy (49). Therefore, it did not appear to go towards the sisters’ income. Despite being the family of a bankrupt, Jane and her children must have retained their genteel status because two daughters, Jane and Sarah Elizabeth married men of some standing after the move to Jersey.
One of these marriages brought a change in the fortunes to one of the Maude sisters. Jane married Robert Gunter in June 1838 (50). Gunter was the son and heir of James Gunter (1731-1819), high class confectioner, market gardener and London property developer. After studying confectionery in Paris, Gunter continued his father’s businesses after his death. Gunter’s father began developing property in the West of London. In 1850, Gunter bought more land and began building the Boltons in Earl’s Court (51). Shortly after beginning this development, Gunter died in October 1852 (52). As Jane was Gunter’s second wife, she did not inherit Gunter’s real estate, but he bequeathed her substantial legacies. He left Jane two lump sums, £250 in his will and £1,000 in a codicil to his will. In addition, he left her an annual income of £500 as her dower and thirds in accordance with his father’s will. Separately, he left her a further annual income of £300 so long as she remained unmarried (53). In 2025 terms, he left Jane approximately £190,000 and an annal income of approximately £120,000. Jane was a very wealthy widow with an associated social status far above that could have been provided by her father if he had not become bankrupt. It is noteworthy that one of Jane’s trustees was her brother William Edward. Along with George Godwin, an architect, William Edward managed the funds out of which she received her annual income. Jane’s only surviving daughter had her own independent income bequeathed by Gunter. In his original will, Gunter placed £20,000 in a trust to be invested with the interest providing an income to their only daughter, Edith Maude. She died before Gunter. In the codicil Gunter instructed the trustees to pay the interest to their second daughter, Hilda. Also, in his will he placed £10,000 in a separate trust with the interest paid to any other children. Hilda was the only other child so she would have benefited from this bequest, too. Again, William Edward was one of the trustees, this time with John Wetten, a solicitor. It is not known how well mother and daughter’s trusts were managed but if the money was invested soundly, both were assured a comfortable life.
William and Jane Maude’s only surviving son, William Edward, experienced a change in fortune, this time through inheritance. William Edward was the third son of the third son of Joseph Maude. As the oldest son, his uncle, Thomas Holme Maude, inherited his father’s property around Kendal and in Westmorland to which he added property around Grange-Over-Sands. Thomas Holme married but he had no children. Precedent would have meant that his younger brother, Frederick would inherit but Frederick pre-deceased Thomas Holme. Frederick never married so he had no children who could have inherited. Next in line was William and his sons. William died before Thomas Holme, so any inheritance passed to his oldest living son. William had four sons of whom William Edward was the third. His older brothers, Frederick and Thomas Holme died before their uncle Thomas Holme, so William Edward became the next in line. Under the conditions of the will of his grandfather, Joseph Maude, William Edward gained a life interest in property around Kendal (54). It appears that William Edward inherited other Thomas Holme’s properties around Kendal although he left instructions in his will to his trustees to sell some of it and offer other parts to his brother John Barnabas Maude on the condition he settle a debt with one of their sisters. Thomas Holme gave a life interest in Blawith Cottage to his wife, Elizabeth, with William Edward to inherit after her death (55). Thomas Holme died in March 1849 and after the death of Aunt Elizabeth in April 1857, William Edward inherited the whole of his uncle’s property (56). This assured his status as a land-owning gentleman, something his father had never been. Before this change in status, William Edward, after returning from the United States in November 1838, became a merchant in Liverpool (57). He appears to have ceased being a merchant on his inheritance as no further advertisements in newspapers have been found after October 1848 (58). In 1847, William Edward considered extending his business interests by purchasing a business manufacturing zinc plating in Cheshire, a purchase he completed around November 1848 (59). Although William Edward ended manufacturing zinc plating in 1855 he continued to have business interests in Cheshire. It is not known how long William Edward conducted business, but he held a warehouse, cottage and land at his death in 1904. William combined being a landed gentleman with being a businessman (60). The latter part of his life introduces a further mystery to the story of the Maude family. In 1884 he sold his Blawith estate and then moved with his wife to live with his wife’s stepmother in Dublin where he died in 1904. No explanation has been found for this. By his death, he had disposed of all the Maude property in the Lake District as he made no mention of such property in his will.
From what is known, none of the other Maude children advanced their social status. Frederick, the eldest son, gained a MA from Oxford University in 1830 before becoming the curate in Longridge in which position he died in 1843 (61). The youngest son, Eustace Montalt died as a second lieutenant in India in 1844 when he was only 17 (62). Of the daughters, Emma Maria died in Jersey in 1846 at the age of 28, the other surviving daughters lived into advanced old age (63). When Jane Maude left Jersey for London the other three daughters moved with her. After the death of their mother Sarah Aubin, Margaret and Charlotte lived together in Earl’s Court, London, near their other sister, Jane Gunter. All three died within 3 weeks of each other in January/February 1892 (64). Nothing else is known about their lives once family affairs had been settled after the death of their mother. It would appear that they just became another women-only household that can be seen as part of the ‘surplus woman’ problem that was of such concern to the Victorians (65). However, their probate return indicates that they all were relatively wealthy with Sarah Elizabeth Aubin’s being a wealthy widow with effects worth over £15,000, £2.5 million at 2025 prices (66). A study of the wills of the three sisters reveal little, neither do the collection of letters held by Blackburn Library. The sisters owned the leasehold of their house in Earl’s Court. Charlotte Maude’s will confirms that the sisters owned the leasehold (67). However, it is probable that they held only half; William Edward bequeathed only a half of the leasehold after he inherited it from his sisters (68). The sisters invested in shares which included Railway Companies (69). However, this shows only the types of assets they owned not the value. The source of her wealth remains another Maude family mystery.
The discovery of a letter written by Jane Maude to her brother when she was in her late 70s and her brother his early 80s began an investigation into the affairs of the Maude and Greenway families. Using other documents held by Blackburn Library along with other publicly available resources the human side of bankruptcy in the 19th century was revealed. Part of what was revealed was the failure of a business venture by the Maudes’ second son, Thomas Holme, which was probably a cover to enable his father to return to business even though he was a bankrupt. The serious consequence for the family was sometime in the mid to late 1830s, the family split with William remaining in Manchester and Jane with her daughters and youngest son moving to Jersey in the Channel Islands. Jane was able to support herself and her daughters because her father, James Greenway, left her money on trust, one established in 1817 and the other in a codicil to his will in 1822. Her brothers, James and Charles, were her trustees paying Jane the interest on the trust funds. Although not having a large income, Jane and her daughters must have retained their genteel status as both Sarah Elizabeth and Jane made respectable marriages. Jane and her brother, William Edward, were two family members who revived the Maude family’s fortunes after William’s bankruptcy. Jane married Robert Gunter whose father began to develop Earl’s Court which Robert continued. He left Jane and their daughter substantial legacies which made them both wealthy women. William Edward became a landed gentleman with business interests. William benefitted from inheriting property from his uncle, Thomas Holme Maude, even though he was only the third son of a third son. Even so, at the death of his uncle, he was Thomas Holme’s oldest surviving male relative. Research revealed two mysteries that were not solved, the apparent wealth of the three sisters who lived into advanced old age and William Edward selling his property in the Lake District to move to Dublin where he died in 1904. A human tale was revealed beginning with an unlikely collection of documents relating mainly to property in Blackburn and Darwen held by Blackburn Library and ending with the discovery of Maude family mysteries.
Published November 2025.
Footnotes
[1] Blackburn Library (BL), Jane Maude, London, to James Greenway, G3/GRE/020, n.d. (1858-60).
[2] BL, Jane Maude, London, to James Greenway, G3/GRE/020, n.d. (1858-60).
[3] London Gazette, 7 June 1831
[4] Manchester Mercury, 7 July 1778: Greenway of Over Darwen advertised for a runaway apprentice. Abram claimed that Greenway began calico printing in Darwen around 1776 (Wm. Alexander. Abram, A History of Blackburn, Town and Parish (Blackburn, 1877), p.491).
[5] Cheshire Diocese of Cheshire Parish Baptisms 1536-1911 Romiley, St Chad via findmypast.co.uk.
[6] Charles Sydebotham had been a merchant in Liverpool since at least 1782 (Gore's Liverpool Directory for the Year 1778 (Liverpool, 1778)).
[7] Sarah Greenway died on 26 October 1800 (Cheshire Diocese of Chester Parish Burials via www.findmypast.co.uk); London Gazette, 14 July 1800.
[8] England Marriages 1538-1973 via www.findmypast .co.uk.
[9] England Marriages 1538-1973, Blackburn, Lancashire, England via findmypast.co.uk; London Gazette, 14 July 1800.
[10] James Greenway was buried at St Peter, Blackburn on 23 May 1822 via Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks, https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/.
[11] The original indenture does not survive but details can be found in an indenture from 2 July 1825 appointing Charles, James Greenway's younger son, as trustee replacing Charles Sydebotham who had died on 29 April 1825, BL, James Greenway to Charles Greenway: appointment of new trustee in the place of Charles Sydebotham, deceased, L25/3/022, 2 July 1825.
[12] Lancashire Archive (LA), Will of James Greenway, WCW/Supra/C771A/A45, 27 December 1822.
[13] Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks, https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/.
[14] John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland (London, 18350, p.89; Cumbrian Lives, Towards a Dictionary of Cumbrian Biography, 'Lives (Index), https://www.cumbrianlives.org.uk/lives-index.html [accessed 13 January, 2025].
[15] Rory Muir, Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune (New Haven and London, 2023), p.1.
[16] Francis Nicholson and Ernest Axon, The Older Nonconformity: A History of the Unitarian Chapel in the Market Place etc. (Kendal, 1915), p.353.
[17] Roll of Students entered at Manchester Academy, 1786-1803 etc. (Manchester, 1808), pp.1782-3.
[18] Britain Country Apprentices, 1710-1808 via findmypast.co.uk
[19] Frederick and William paid rates on a warehouse in Halfmoon Street, Manchester in 1795 (Manchester Rate Books vis findmypast.co.uk; Scholes's Manchester & Salford Directory, 1797 (Manchester, 1797), p.85.
[20] W A Abram, A History of Blackburn, Town and Parish (Blackburn, 1877), p.345.
[21] Oxford Journal, 30 April 1803.
[22] Lancaster Gazette, 30 June 1810; Manchester Mercury, 17 July 1810.
[23] In June 1811 James Booth was imprisoned for buying warp and weft from a weaver which was the property of Messrs. Maude and Greenway, Blackburn, Lancaster Gazette, 29 June 1811.
[24] National Archive (NA), Will of Joseph Maude of Kirby Kendal, Westmorland, PROB 11/1396/219, 21 July 1803.
[25] Muir, Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune, pp.1-2.
[26] After his death in July 1840, his obituary recorded him as 'for many years a benevolent and active supporter of several of the most useful charitable institutions of this town', Manchester Courier, 1 August 1840.
[27] NA, Potter v Greenway Two Bills and Answer, C 13/1047/29, 1834, a complaint brought to the High Court of Chancery brought by Thomas Potter, Manchester, and Edmund Burdekin, bank manager, Manchester, assignees of the estate and effects of William Maude and John Potter after their bankruptcy in 1831. This action in the Court of Chancery provides details of the complex business relationships between Maude, Potter and Greenway. Potter and Burdekin's complaint was finally dismissed in 1845 by which time John Potter was dead and Edmund Burdekin had absconded after his fraudulent dealings with the Manchester Bank had been discovered in 1842.
[28] NA, Potter v Greenway, C13/1047/29; Potter v Greenway Answer Only, C13/1048/16, !834; Potter v Greenway Answer Only, C13/1118/30, 1836; Potter v Greenway Answer Only, C13/1264/27, 1840.
[29] Preston Herald, 16 November 1867.
[30] Forths and Co. was listed as a 'calico and commission warehouse' in 1821 (Pigot and Deans' New Directory of Manchester, Salford, etc. for 1821-2 (Manchester, 1821), p.55). In later directories Henry Forth was listed as a Commission Agent.
[31] London Gazette, 7 June 1831.
[32] BL, John Lister to an unknown recipient, G3/GRE/002, 14 March 1831.
[33] NA, Potter v Greenway, C13/1047/29; Potter v Greenway Answer Only, C13/1048/16, !834; Potter v Greenway Answer Only, C13/1118/30, 1836.
[34] BL, James Greenway to William Fielden, including a copy of letter to Mr. Peel, L25/4/001, 9 May 1832; Jonathan Peel Esq. and Mr Thomas Maude: Contract for the sale and purchase of the Whitebirk Estate in Blackburn, L25/4/002, 22 May 1832.
[35] Both John Hornby and the Maude family lived on King St in Blackburn.
[36] London Gazette, 14 November 1834.
[37] BL, W. E. Maude to James Greenway with reply from Greenway to Maude, L25/4/004, 13/14 February 1863.
[38] Greater Manchester Rate Books accessed via findmypast.org.
[39] BL, Jane Maude, London, to James Greenway, G3/GRE/020, n.d. (1858-60).
[40] Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph, 17 April 1858.
[41] Charlotte and Eustace were with Jane in the 1841 census. Sarah married John Aubin from Jersey in 1848. A painting by Jane completed a watercolour entitled 'A Jersey Lane' before her marriage to Robert Gunter in June 1838. Emma Maria died on Jersey in November 1846.
[42] 'Person: Maude, Frederick (1829 – 1831)', CCEd: Clergy of the Church of England Database, https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/search/index.jsp [accessed 16 June 2025]; BL, W.E. Maude to James Greenway, G3/GRE/022, 23 March 1859.
[43] Warren Maude Lamb's third daughter Harriet married George Falle on 17 July 1833 from Longueville Manor House, Jesey (Newcastle Journal, 27 July 1833).
[44] William was descended from Bryan Maude's elder son and heir, Joseph, whereas Warren was descended from his younger son, Samuel (John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland etc Vol. 2. (Edinburgh and Dublin, 1835), pp. 88-90).
[45] All details of the Holme family are from My Gobbins, Ballard and other Ancestors' Family History, https://gibbins.gen.nz/index.htm [accessed 22 June 2025].
[46] London Gazette, 14 January 1826.
[47] BL, W.E. Maud to James Greenway, G3/GRE/022, 23 March 1859.
[48] LA, Will of Charles Sydebotham, WCW/Supra/C812/27, 25 May 1825.
[49] BL, W.E. Maude to James Greenway, G3/GRE/o22, 23 March 1859.
[50] Carlisle Journal, 16 June 1838.
[51] Vic, 'The Pot and Pineapple and Gunter's: Domenico Negri, Robert Gunter, and the Confectioner's Art in Georgian London', Jane Austen's World, https://janeaustensworld.com/2013/07/09/the-pot-and-pineapple-and-gunters-domenico-negri-robert-gunter-and-the-confectioners-art-in-georgian-london/ [accessed 2 March 2025].
[52] Morning Post, 19 October 1852.
[53] NA, Will of Robert Gunter of Kensington, Middlesex, PROB 11/2163/6, 1 December 1852.
[54] NA, Will of Joseph Maude of Kirby Kendal Westmorland, PROB 11/1396/219, 21 July 1803.
[55] NA, Will of Thomas Holme Maude of Blawith Cottage, Lancashire, PROB 11/2115/44, 6 June 1850.
[56] Thomas Holme Maude died on 23 March 1849 (Westmorland Gazette, 24 March 1849) and Elizabeth on 3 April 1857 (Westmorland Gazette, 4 April 1857).
[57] The Albion, 6 November 1838; in May 1839 he imported nitrate of soda, quercitron bark and beeswax (Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser, 3 May 1839).
[58] The last record of William Edward acting as a merchant was in Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser, 12 October 1848.
[59] BL, W.E. Maude to James Greenway, G3/GRE/012, 3 March 1847; W.E. Maude to James Greenway, G3/GRE/014, 21 November, 1848.
[60] Maude's last advertisement for zinc plating was in the Northern Daily Times, 20 September 1855; he was a director of the Lowood Gunpowder Company in Cheshire in 1865 (Northwich Guardian, 9 December 1865); he was registered to vote at his warehouse in Acton Bridge, Cheshire (Cheshire electoral Registers, FMP).
[61] 'Person: Maude, Frederick (1829 – 1831)', CCEd: Clergy of the Church of England Database, https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/search/index.jsp [accessed 16 June 2025].
[62] Manchester Courier, 15 June 1844).
[63] Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 21 November 1846.
[64] They lived at Tregunter Road in Earls Court (see census returns for 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891) where Charlotte died on 23 January 1892 (The Home News for India, China and the Colonies, 29 January 1892) , Margaret on 27 January 1892 (South London Press, 6 February 1892), and Sarah Elizabeth Aubin on 11 February 1892 (Pall Mall Gazette, 15 February 1892).
[65] See Kathrin Levitan, 'Redundancy, the 'Surplus Woman' Problem and the British Census, 1851-1861', Women's History Review Vol 17, No. 3, July 2008, pp. 359-376.
[66] All probate records via https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Charlotte and Margarets final value of effects were exactly the same at £4,732 13s 3d which may be misleading. Charlotte, who died 4 days before Margaret, could have left all her effects to her elder sister.
[67] Probate Registry, London, Will of Charlotte Maude, 30 June 1885, https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk. [accessed 14 October 2025].
[68] Probate Registry, London, Will of William Edward Maude, 11 February 1903, Codicil, 30 May 1904, https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk. [accessed 14 October 2025].
[69] Probate Registry, London, Will of Sarah Elizabeth Aubin, 14 December 1888, https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk. [accessed 14 October 2025].
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